Baby box founder undeterred by warning, plans defense fund

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The founder of an organization that has installed boxes where mothers can leave unwanted infants said she is undeterred by a warning from Indiana that they are illegal and intends to widen their availability.

Safe Haven Baby Boxes founder Monica Kelsey says she plans to install more boxes, including one in Ohio. She also says she will create a legal fund to defend women Indiana says could face child abandonment charges for using the devices.

Kelsey says she has consulted with lawyers in Indiana and Ohio who have told her there are no laws in either state prohibiting their use. She contends the boxes are needed to keep women from placing infants in trash bins.

Officials in Indiana and Ohio say state law requires the infants be turned over to personnel and that they can't be left in a box.